Cattle-killing machine



April 8, 1930. J. DEVER CATTLE KILLING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 6, 1929 llllumm INVENTOR cfames Dave);

ATTORNEY April 8, 1930. J. DEVER' CATTLE KILLING MACHINE Filed A ril 6, 1929 5 Sheets s J 3 TIE-1.2

I NVENTQ Patented Apr. 8, 1930 UNITED STATES:

PATENT oFEicE JAMES DEVER, OF SIOUX GITYyIOVJ'LA GATTLE-KILLINGF MACHINE App1ication filed April 6,

The invention primarily has for its object to provide a novel machine for facilitating the killing of cattle, and which'not only assures the accomplishment of the killing in a 5 more certain and humane manner than has heretofore been" practiced, but also assures" the obtaining of the maximum of the poten tial market value of the cattle.

In its more detailed nature the invention" 9 resides inthe 'provisionof a novel turntable table such as will serve to render'the cattle 5 substantially unconscious and thereby eas y and safe to handle.

,Other objects will in part be oby' iou s and in part be pointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid object's and ends the invention further resides in the novel details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described in the following detailed description, then be particularly point- Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating thein- Figure 4 is an enlarged detail section'illus' eating one of the turntable suporting rollers.

and superstructure.

In "the drawings in which likenunieralsof reference indicate like partsin all of the fig ures,1 designates a well which may be formed in the slaughter hed e-floor in any'approved manner,preferably'with reinforce walls in- Within the well a circular track's, refer:

circular I-beamfl suitablysecured mp6s the fioor of the wen;

ed out in the appended claims, reference 'be-: ing had to the acco'mpanylng drawings 111 wit-innate wen aha-partway 'fiii'sli witli" 1929. Serial No. 353,065;

' the'floor surface I provide a rotatable turntable comprising a circular floor 5 constructed of any suitable materialand mounted upon a c rcular frame 6 preferably formed of a peripheral eight inch I-beam braced 'interd mediately by longitudinal and transverse stra ght six inchLbeams as indicated at 7. At equi-distantly spaced intervals of about three feeteach depending roller bearingcastings 8 are secured as at 9 to depend from the frame beam 6 into thewell for rotatably supporting the turntable on the track The supporting rollers carried by the castings are At equi-distantly spaced intervals, inter-- mediately of the spaced roller bearing castings, depending guide members 11 are secured as at 12 to the circular 'frame beamsb'and have their lower-ends extended down inside and in'close relationto the track'rail 3 and having their lower end'portions bent outward lyas at 13 to extend under-the overhanging edge formed by the inside'of the Trail. The rollers 10 serve to support the turntable for free rotation on the track 3 and the guides 11 bear such relation to the track as to assure against any tendency of the turntable to jump the 'trackor'get out of associated relation with its driving connections;

Aframe plate 14 is supported ben'eatlitlie turntable proper on a depending; frame 15 formed of channel beams and braces. A ring gear 16 is secured-to the under "face of the plate 14 in 'anyappro'ved manner and in ordr to impartrotation to the turntable a driv Figure 5 is aview similar to Figure "4: 'illustrating one of the turntable guide member' Figure 6is a cross section of the turntable er pinion 17 meshes with the ringgearso that when the said pinion is rotated its rotation will be imparted tothe turntabl'ej I The pinion 17 is secured-upon a power shaft 18 mounted in suitable bearings 19 supported in the' w ell and'one end of the said shaft may be extended beyond the confines fofthe turntable "into a'suitable chamber '20 where it is equipped with a pulley 21 to which 'power' may be applied byla belt 22 from'any suitable p source of power (not show 11'). ably formed of Trail, is supports-d epen "a the shaft 18 within the chamber 20 and a'steel A brake drum 23 'niayalso be secured upon cured at one end to a rigid mounting 26 and has its free end attached to a cable 27 which passes under a sheave 28 and secured to a brake lever 29 suitably fulcrumed as at 30. Thus when the power has been cut off and it is desired to bring the turntable to a stand still the brake may be utilized to quicken the accomplishment of this purpose. In view of the high speed at which the turntable is rotated and the great weight thereof, this brake equipment will greatly facilitate the accomplishment of the purpose of the invention.

Four angle iron uprights 31 are suitably secured to the turntable framing and project verticall above the turntable to form corner posts for a cattle enclosure. Each side of the enclosure defined at the corners by the four uprights is completed by a pair of doors, one of which is hinged to each adjacent pair of uprights, and each pair of doors being disposed to meet at the medial line. The doors are hinged as at 33 to the uprights and swing outwardly. and to prevent opening of the 1 doors while the wheel is in motion, due to centrifugal force. each door is equipped with a cleat 34 adjacent its free edge, and a bar 35 maybe fitted into the cleats when the doors are closed to lock the doors against outward swinging.

lVithin the enclosure formed by the uprights and hinged doors I provide a plurality of separating partitions 36 which divide th enclosure into individual cattle compartments or stalls. These partitions may of course, be omitted if desired.

In the slaughtering of cattle it is the common practice to strike the cattle a blow between the eyes with a heavy hammer. It frequently happens that the cattle move their heads and the hammer blow is untrue and instead of a clean killing such as is possible with a single blow under ideal conditions four or five blows may be necessary to kill the animals with the result that a clean killis impossible and the brains removed from the animals will be blood clotted and impaired for commercial use.

It is the purpose of my invention to impound a suitable number of cattle in the enclosure upon the turntable and to rotate the said turntable at a rapid rate of speed. thus rendering the cattle unconscious and easy to handle and kill.

If desired the corner uprights 31 may be braced by turn-buckle equipped cross rods 37.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that the novel details of construction, the manner of use and the advantages of the invention, will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates.

hat I claim is:

1. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable, an animal enclosure on the turntable, and means to impart rapid rotation to the turntable for the purpose described.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable, an animal enclosure on the turntable, means to separate the enclosure to constitute individual stalls, and means to impart rapid rotation to the turntable.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable, an animal enclosure on the turntable, means to impart rapid rotation to the turntable, said means including a ring gear depending from the turntable, a power shaft, a driver pinion on the shaft and meshing with the ring gear. and means to impart rotation to the power shaft.

4. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable, an animal enclosure on the turntable, means to impart rapid rotation to the turntable, said means including a ring gear depending from the turntable, a power shaft, a driver pinion on the shaft and meshing with the ring gear, means to impart rotation to the power shaft, said power shaft being extended at one end beyond the confines of the turntable, and a braking device to act on the power shaft for the purpose of bringing the turntable to rest.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable, an animal enclosure on the turntable, and means to impart rapid rotation to the turntable, said enclosure comprising corner uprights secured to the turntable, a pair of doors hinged to each upright and cooperating to form a walled enclosure defined at the corners by the said uprights.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable, an animal enclosure on the turntable, and means to impart rapid rotation to the turntable, said enclosure comprising corner uprights secured to the turntable, a pair of doors hinged to each upright and cooperating to form a walled enclosure defined at the corners by the said uprights, each of the doors hinged to a given corner upright being adapted to cooperate with one of the doors hinged to an adjacent upright to constitute one enclosure wall, the doors forming each said wall meeting at a medial line, and removable means to lock the doors against being thrown open by centrifugal force.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable, an animal enclosure on the turntable, means to impart rapid rotation to the turntable, a well to receive the turntable, a circular track supported in the well and having an overhanging ledge, and rollers depending from the turntable at spaced intervals and adapted to ride on the said track.

8. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable, an animal enclosure on the turntable, means to impart rapid rotatlon to the turntable, a well to receive the turntable, a circular track supported in the well and having an overhanging ledge, rollers depending from the turntable at spaced intervals and adapted to ride on the said track, and guide members depending from the turntable at spaced intervals intermediately of the rollers and having portions thereof extending under the track ledge.

9. A machine of the character described comprising a turntable having a floor, a circular rim and a fabricated reinforce center, an animal enclosure on the turntable and spaced inwardly of the edges thereof, a Well to receive the turntable, a framing depending from the turntable into the well and including a frame plate, a circular track supported in the Well and having an overhanging ledge, roller bearing members depending from the circular rim at equi-distantly spaced intervals and riding on the said track, guide members depending from the circular rim in equi-distantly spaced intervals intermediatei ly of the roller bearing members and having portions to hook under the track ledge from the inside, a ring gear depending from the frame plate, a power shaft having a driver gear thereon and meshing with the ring gear, and means to impart rotation to the power shaft to rapidly rotate the turntable and render unconscious animals in the turntable enclosure.

JAMES DEVER. 

